Intersectional Reflection In Literature

Doetsch-Kidder’s (2016) monograph defines the important role of intersectionality as a defining sea-change in the way that women of color began to unify across racial and cultural barriers. Interviews with minority activists define the perception of the diversification of feminist ideology through the lens of intersectionality. One interview with a African-American activist named Donna illustrates the unity between women of color that evolved in the 1970s: “But overall, we are all fighting for civil rights, so there has to be some type of overlap with each one” (Doetsch-Kidder, 2016, p.103). This development defines the “overlapping’ ideology of different feminist groups, which soon began to devolve the racial and cultural barriers not only between women of color, but also with white feminist groups. In Doetsch-Kidder’s (2016) point of view, the civil rights movement laid the foundation for intersectional feminist principles to be practiced for women seeking greater representation in the workplace.

Although the text, Women: Images and Realities a Multicultural Anthology, has done a wonderful job of showcasing the diversity of women’s experiences, I find Beverly Daniel Tatum’s work “Defining Racism: “Can We Talk?”” to be the most striking. In the essay, Tatum describes how she (and many other feminists) define racism and who can and cannot be racist. Tatum argues that there are important distinctions between prejudice and racism, wherein racism is defined as a ‘system of advantage based on race” or more precisely “prejudice plus power” (388). Through multiple examples Tatum illustrates that if one accepts and uses her definition of racism then only White people (the group of people who ‘dominate’ society) are racist because “people of

However, intersectionality gained prominence later (the 1980s and 90s) through African American feminist scholars, Crenshaw and Patricia Hill Collins, who criticized white feminists who failed to see that their skin color provided them with advantages that are not often offered to black feminists (Norris; Murphy-Erby; Zajiceck 2007). In time, intersectionality transitioned from an individual group’s experience (black women’s identity/ discrimination) to a larger framework.

Intersectionality is a framework that must be applied to all social justice work, a frame that recognizes the multiple aspects of identity that enrich our lives and experiences. This framework synthesizes and complicates oppressions and marginalization’s. In the article, “Why Intersectionality Can’t Wait” Kimberle Crenshaw talks about how the purpose of intersectionality has been lost. Intersectional somehow creates an environment of bullying and privilege checking. This society cannot afford to have movements that are not intersectional because all races need to be embraced and have equality.

Whiteness and racism comes from the oppression, colonization and systems of dominance over black people and their feelings. In this case, an intersectional feminist analysis matters because women who are able bodied, cis-gendered, privileged and white are only being considered whereas bell hooks argue that men, women and trans people who oppressed should be fought for. And Peggy McIntosh adds onto this but a white woman who addresses and recognizes her privilege to help other white individuals understand what they have and blacks do not.

Roderick Ferguson’s article, “Nightmares of the Heteronormative,” details the ways that the categories of home and domesticity are constructed in a manner made to be accessible by people of color, using the queer of color critique. Similarly, Kimberle Crenshaw’s “Mapping the Margins” coins intersectionality to explore the ways that sexism and racism intersect to produce the doubly marginalized experience of being a woman of color.

As many women struggled to retain their values and traditions, there were existing male dominated conceptions of race and white dominated conceptions of gender. Kimberle Crenshaw describes the concept of intersectionality where race and gender interact in various ways to shape multiple dimensions experiences for different groups

“Intersectionality” devised by Kimberley Crenshaw in her intuitive essay “de-marginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of anti-discrimination doctrine, a feminist theory and antiracist politics “ Intersectionality is thought to act as framework, which requires recognition that overlapping marginalised identities impact the way individuals experience oppression and thus must impact the way, advocates do work. Its more than comprehending multiple marginalized identities that people may face, and is viewed as a means of approaching the various layers of subordination experienced and endured by individuals and groups of women who are excluded from the idea of archetypal women the feminists imagined, these being;

She describes how white women “ignore their built-in privilege of whiteness” when they ignore the black female’s point of view and focus solely on the white female’s view (117). She points out the hypocrisy of white feminists, in that they will refuse to read black females’ works because they are “too difficult to understand,” but will read the works of Shakespeare, Molière, Dostoyefsky, and Aristophanes (117) There’s an obvious contradiction between white feminists’ “incorporation” of black females into their movement and the exclusion of their literature, which Lorde later analyzes and determines is because white women would feel guilt upon recognizing and validating their experiences. Furthermore, the exclusion of black writings from the feminist movement weakens the strength of the movement, offering the opposite effect as desired. Lorde writes how “ignoring the differences of race between women and the implications of those differences presents the most serious threat to the mobilization of women’s joint power.” (117) Since the feminist movement seeks to apply social pressure to achieve social change, it would make sense to try to gain strength in numbers by including the most people possible; Lorde sees this strength in numbers and calls into question the consistency of the white side of the feminist movement with its

Kimberlé Crenshaw is an esteemed civil rights advocate and law professor. Crenshaw introduced the concept of “intersectionality” to the acclaimed feminist theory close to 30 years ago in a paper written for the University of Chicago Legal Forum, describing the “intersectional experience” as something “greater than the sum of racism and sexism. (Crenshaw)” She wrote in terms of intersectional feminism, which examines the overlapping systems of oppression and discrimination that women face, based not just on gender but on ethnicity, sexuality, economic background and a number of other axes. She speaks on it in a sense that the term intersectionality provides us with a way to see issue that arise from discrimination or disempowerment often being more complicated for people who are subjected to multiple forms of exclusion because of the protected clauses they may possess. Crenshaw speaks on the “urgency of intersectionality” in her Ted talk. This as well as her spreading awareness for the #SayHerName campaign drives a tie between the necessity for intersectionality advocaism and the the occurrences of neglect and violence present in societal happenings today. The question that stands in the forefront of her work is how can we effectively apply an intersectional methodology to analysis of violence and other acts against people who are often being neglected of any sort of recognition in social issues today? Intersectionality is one of the better known concepts within the

Similar to the author Kimberle Crenshaw, the author of “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics,” I would like to start my critical review essay by mentioning the Black feminist studies book entitled “All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave.” Having this idea of problematic predisposition to treat race and gender as mutually exclusive entities in mind, I would like to review Angela Davis’s book entitled “Women, Race, and Class”, and compare my findings to Kimberle Crenshaw’s groundbreaking article that we have read in class, where she famously terms the idea of “intersectionality.” I will start with the examination of similarities between Davis’s and Crenshaw’s arguments regarding the erasure of the Black women’s experiences in social sciences and feminist writings, and will also point out the additional consideration of class that Davis brings to the idea of intersectionality of race and gender initially suggested by Crenshaw, and further discuss the triple discrimination that Black women face on the fronts of race, gender, and class. My main aim in the review of the two author’s texts is to reveal the prevalent problematic notion in Black societies of viewing race implicitly gendered as male, and recognizing gender mainly from the white women’s standpoint.

The term intersectionality was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in order to describe the multidimensionality of lived experiences of women of colour in contexts of sexism and racism. Intersectionality serves as a way of understanding how different forms of repression reinforce and complicate each other, which in the case of the black woman are racism and sexism.

Crenshaw recognises that women of colour experience an ‘intersection’ of racism and sexism. She claims that “contemporary feminist and antiracist discourses have failed to consider intersectional identities such as women of colour” (Crenshaw, 1991, pp 1242). Crenshaw illuminates three specific issues for intersectionality: structural intersectionality; suggesting that a women’s location in the world affects her experience, and therefore any reforms must be different to those of white women (ibid, pp 1245). The second issue is that of political intersectionality; here Crenshaw argues that previous feminist politics has ironically only marginalised “the issue of violence against women of colour."(ibid). The third aspect of intersectionality addresses how women of colour are culturally constructed and unfairly represented within western literature and thought. This aspect is further supported by Spivak who believes language is limited in its representation of social and political inequalities in the contemporary world (Morton, 2003, pp 5). Post colonial feminism looks to represent ethnic minorities who's identities and experience's had been previously ignored, and therefore understands that the oppression these women faced could not be solved by race-only or class-only or gender-only or sexuality-only frameworks.(REF) Intersectionality provides a framework that considers all aspects of

Learning about another country was something I was not use to before this class. In other classes we would study the history of America and only briefly discuss other countries. The same was true for literature, so studying British literature was something different. This class helped me to learn about how literature and history are linked together. The writings of a certain time period can show a direct reflection of the events of the time. This class also helped me develop as a writer. The many strategies I have learned this semester have helped me to become a better writer with more professional standards through the development of writing strategies, revising strategies, and research strategies.

I have learned that life is about learning new and exciting things and allowing your self to open your mind to the possibility of new perspectives. In my life, I have always found that it’s important to learn something new every day. With that I make it my goal to learn something new every day. When I began this class, I knew that there would be many opportunities to learn. From grade school, I had a basic understanding of the world and how the perspectives of others varied from my own. After reading the pieces I would then choice to write about, I realized that they were written on an more emotional level. This especially changed my way of looking at the past specifically the era that these pieces were written. It has made me very grateful for what I have in my life, opening my eyes to the world we live in now. Of the numerous pieces I have read so far in this class it was difficult to decide what pieces to choose for this assignment, but I managed to choose. First “The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake (pg.129). Next is “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid (pg.121). Lastly “Bartleby, The Scrivener” by Herman Melville (pg.235). These three pieces of literature certainly spoke to me as a person, mother and friend. And I plan to tell you how these wonderful literary works have changed my perspective on the world.